Knight, London up 2-1 over Hamilton, Niagara in OHL finals

In an epic battle between what many consider to be the Bruins'
top two prospects, Jared Knight and the London Knights took a 2-1
series lead over Dougie Hamilton and the Niagara Ice Dogs in the
OHL finals on Monday.

The Ice Dogs were victorious in the series opener almost
entirely thanks to Hamilton, who was named the OHL Defenseman of
the Year after the ninth overall pick in last summer’s draft
racked up 72 points in just 50 contests. He had two assists and the
game-winning goal in double overtime, factoring in on all three
goals as Niagara won Game 1 by a score of 3-2.

Despite getting out-shot by a 42-24 margin, the Knights rebound
with a 5-3 win in Game 2 on Saturday. Hamilton picked up a helper
on the Ice Dogs second goal, as Andrew Agozzino struck twice in the
first period to give Niagara an early 2-0 lead. But London then
scored four straight goals, with Knight assisting on the fourth
tally on the power play with 13:31 gone in the middle frame.

That goal proved to be the game-winner, as Agozzino scored to
pick up the hat trick to cut the lead to 4-3, but London iced it
when Ryan Rupert completed his hat trick with an empty-netter.

On Monday, both Bruins prospects were held in check. Niagara
took a 2-1 lead late in the second on a goal from Hamilton’s
older brother, Freddie, but Austin Watson’s goal with 1:32 to
go in the middle frame knotted things up.

With just 3:28 left in regulation, Knights center Chris Tierney
beat Mark Visentin, putting London ahead 3-2. Goalie Michael Houser
stopped all nine Niagara shots he faced in the final period.

The Ice Dogs will host Game 4 at the Gatorade Garden City
Complex on Wednesday night. The winner of the series moves on to
play for the Memorial Cup.